Improvement in tucking and hemming attachments for sewing-machines



JAMES M. HUNTER.

tmprovement in Tucking and Hemming Attachment for Sewing-Machines. No. l28,229, Patente d'1une25,1872.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Orrron.

JAMES M. HUNTER, OF GREENE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND SAMUEL A. HUNTER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TUCKING AND HEMMING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,229, dated J une 25, 1872 antedated June 8, 1872.

To whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES M. HUNTER, of Greene, Ohenango county, New Yorkv State, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Tuckers and Hemmers for Sewing- Machines, of which the following is a specification:

These improvements relate to tucking and hemming attachments for sewing-machines; and they may be generally stated to consist, first, in means whereby the tucker may be readily adapted and fitted without any change in construction to any of the known kinds of sewing-machines with which such attachments are usually employed; second, in the construction of the hook of the tucker so that it shall not only form a guide to regulate the width of tuck, but can also, when required, be used as a hemmer; and third, in the employment, in the manner hereinafter set forth and in connection with the tucker, of a slide carried by the adjustable gauge with which the tucker proper is combined, and serving to keep the cloth in position and to prevent it from working up on the side of the gauge.

The manner in which my invention is or may be carried into effect will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of the complete attachment. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the adjustable gauge with a modified arrangement of the slide piece.

The bow of the tucker is represented at A, and the hinged cloth-folder or arm, over which the cloth is folded in order to make the tuck, is shown at B. These parts have been heretofore used in tuckers, and require no description further than that the folder is hinged at a to the bow, is provided with a stop-pin at b to allow it to swing only in one'direction away from the bow, and has the upper surface of its outer or free end diagonally scored, as at 0, for the purpose of bringing and keeping the cloth in place. Upon the outer and upper end of the bow is mounted a sliding hook, O, which serves as a guide to regulate the width of tuck. The hook is arranged between the bow and the folder, and slides along the bow toward or away from the adjustable gauge or bed piece D, hereinafter described. The guide-hook can be held in place either by friction or by a set-screw. The former arrangement is shown in the drawin g, the frame which holds the hook fitting the how so snugly as to remain with sufficient tightness at any point on the bow to which it may be adjusted. The upper portion of the hook-piece is prolonged parallel, or nearly so, with the bow to form a tongue, 01, for smoothing the cloth. D represents the gauge or bed piece, by which the tucker proper is secured to the cloth-plate of the sewing-machine. This gauge is provided with the slotted arm f, through which passes the thumb-screw which fastens it to the cloth-plate. The slot in the arm f allows the bed-piece and tucker to be moved back and forth to adjust the tucker in its proper position with relation to the needle. It often happens, however, that the thumbscrew hole' in the cloth plate is differently located in different machines; and, therefore, in order to meet this emergency, the tucker is made adjustable in a direction at right angles with the slot f by having the end of the bow Aformed into a hook, g, which embraces or slides upon a raised and slotted ledge, h, on the front of the bed-piece, and extending transversely or at right angles with the slotted arm f. A thumb-screw in the hook-end of the bow passes through the slot h and clamps the end of the bow to the gauge or bed-piece at any desired point throughout the length of the slot h. By this means the tucker can be brought into the required position, and is made available for all the different kinds of sewing-machines. In order to accommodate the'tonguc or smoother d, a slot, t, is cut in the raised front of the gauge 0r bed-piece, through which the tongue can pass when the hook is pushed up near to the gauge. The guide-hook 0 may "have the form of a simple hook, but I prefer to bend the end of the hook back upon itself, in the manner shown at m n,'Fig. 2, thereby forming the hook into a device which may be used as a hemmer when occasion demands. I am enabled thus simply and cheaply to combine in one device a tucker and adjustable hemmer, the hemmer being adjusted, applied, 'and used with the same facility as the tucker. For the purpose of holding the cloth down smooth and preventing it from working up on the side of the gauge, and thus varying the width of tuck or hem, I use with the tucker a slide plate or presser, E, connected with the bed piece D. This slide may be provided with a slotted arm like the arm f, and in such case is placed under the bed-piece, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and held in position by the same screw that holds the bed-piece to the clothplate 'or I prefer that its arm should slide in guides formed on the arm f, as indicated in Fig. 3, 0 representing the arm of the slide, and p the guides on the bed-piece. In this way it becomes unnecessary to employ the thumb-screw of the bed-piece to hold the slide, and the latter can be adjusted and manipulated with greater facility. The front orpresser portion of the slide passes out through a slot suitably formed for the purpose in the bedpiece.

In operating with the attachment the edge of the cloth or the edge of the tuck last formed is placed in the guide-hook, and the portion of the cloth to be tucked is then passed around and under the cloth-folder B. By swinging back the hinged folder the cloth can be readily put in place or taken out. When the cloth is put in place, as above described, the slide E, if it is to be used, is, after the presser-foot of the sewing-machine is let down, pushed out on the cloth, and serves to keep it smooth and to prevent the edge of the tuck or hem from working up against the gauge or bed-piece. The slide is especially useful with wide tucks, but can be used to advantage even with narrow tucks. When the hook is to be used as a hemmer the edge of the cloth is drawn in and bent under the part a, and the cloth is then bent over or around the hook in the usual way to form a hem.

Having now described my invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the tucker proper with the gauge or bed-piece, constructed with a slotted arm, by which it may be held in an adjustable manner to the cloth-plate of the sewing-machine, and araised and slotted ledge, to which the tucker-bow is secured, and on which it may be adjusted, as and for the purposes herein shown and set forth.

2. In a tucking attachment, substantially such as described, the combination of the tucker-bow, sliding guidebook, and tongue or cloth-smoother, with the gauge or bed-piece, constructed and operating in connection with said parts, in the manner shown and set forth.

3. The combination of the tucker-bow, the hinged cloth-folder, the combined guide-hook and hemmer, and the adjustable gauge or bedpiece, with or without the sliding presser-plate, when said parts are constructed and arranged for joint operation, as shown and set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

JAS. M. HUNTER. Witnesses:

SAMUEL H. WAnswoRTII, MELVIN J. BENSON. 

